The present invention relates to a seat belt having a buckle tongue stop that is resiliently deformable.
A traditional three-point seat belt restraint has a length of belt webbing connected to the vehicle, at one end to the floor and at the other end to a retractor. The belt webbing passes over a loop fastened to a side pillar of the vehicle and through an aperture in a buckle tongue. The position of the buckle tongue is adjustable on the belt webbing since the belt webbing slides freely through the aperture. The buckle tongue can be inserted in a buckle fixed to the vehicle on an opposite side of the vehicle occupant so that, when buckled, the belt passes over both the lap of the vehicle occupant and diagonally across the vehicle occupant""s torso.
When the seat belt is unbuckled, spare belt webbing is automatically wound into the retractor and adopts a length corresponding to the distance between the retractor and the pillar loop and the buckle tongue tends to slide down the belt webbing. To ensure that the buckle tongue hangs in a position accessible to a vehicle occupant, it is known to put a buckle tongue stop in the form of a button on the belt webbing at a suitable location to prevent the buckle tongue from falling all the way to the floor. However, this buckle tongue stop can cause problems when the seat belt is used to restrain a child seat. European regulations dictate that there must be no loose belt webbing in either the lap or the diagonal torso portions. The buckle tongue stop could leave loose belt webbing in the lap portion when the belt is fastened around a child seat because the buckle tongue stop effectively prevents all of the belt webbing in the lap portion form being pulled in. If the buckle tongue stop is put in a position which avoids loose belt webbing in this situation, when the belt is unlatched, the buckle tongue hangs too low to be convenient for the seat occupant.
According to the present invention, there is provided a seat belt having a buckle tongue stop that is resiliently deformable.
The buckle tongue stop may be resiliently deformable in the direction of its width, that is to say laterally, or in its thickness and may be formed of rubber or another elastically deformable material that returns to its original shape when the deforming force is removed. The buckle tongue stop may be formed with a raised portion, or bump, which is compressible or with more than one compressible bump, or, with bumps that move toward each other in deformation.